''Iron Storm'' is a video game for the

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the succ ...

. It was released in 1996 in North America. It is part of the ''

Daisenryaku is a series of war strategy video games by SystemSoft and SystemSoft Alpha in Japan. The series debuted in Japan in 1985 with exclusively for the NEC PC-98. Games in the franchise have been released for many platforms including the PC-88, X1, ...

'' series which was developed and published by

Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...

Story

''Iron Storm'' is a strategy game that takes place within the context of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The game's general premise is to allow players to pick a side (

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, or

Imperial Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...

) and then work their way across several battles within the war. The game takes place in both the Pacific Theatre and

European Theatre The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main theatres of combat during World War II. It saw heavy fighting across Europe for almost six years, starting with Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and ending with the ...

s. In addition, if a player wins certain battles then the path of the war changes. For example, Nazi Germany winning the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

will allow for an eventual invasion of America, as will Japan defeating the United States at the

Battle of Midway The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea. The U.S. Navy under Adm ...

Gameplay

During battles in campaign mode, the player mobilizes a large variety of customizable units (

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

s, and

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster a ...

s) across a hexagon-shaped grid in order to defeat the opposing

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis *Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinate ...

forces controlled by the game's AI. In addition, as time progresses players can upgrade individual units either based on experience levels or as a blanket technology upgrade. Experimental weaponry is used in some later battles, including some German jet aircraft like the

Messerschmitt Me 262 The Messerschmitt Me 262, nicknamed ''Schwalbe'' (German: "Swallow") in fighter versions, or ''Sturmvogel'' (German: "Storm Bird") in fighter-bomber versions, is a fighter aircraft and fighter-bomber that was designed and produced by the Germa ...

. The map system itself is static, but real-time 3-D animations are used to recreate encounters between various types of units, an option that can also be toggled off.

Release

The game's North American publisher,

Working Designs Working Designs was an American video game publisher that specialized in the localization of Japanese role-playing video games, strategy video games and top-down shooters for various platforms. Though the company had published many cult hits, i ...

, donated 50 cents of every copy sold to the National Holocaust Museum in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Reception

''Iron Storm'' was a minor hit in Japan. The game was positively received by critics. ''

Electronic Gaming Monthly ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (often abbreviated to ''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews. History The m ...

'' gave the game an 8 out of 10, praising the ability to view the outcome of each battle in cinematic view and the use of experience points. A ''

Next Generation Next Generation or Next-Generation may refer to: Publications and literature * ''Next Generation'' (magazine), video game magazine that was made by the now defunct Imagine Media publishing company * Next Generation poets (2004), list of young ...

'' critic found that the cinematic sequences at least initially dispel the perception of strategy games as "dry", and noted that they can be turned off once their novelty fades and they become simply a means of slowing down the gameplay. He was pleased that the gameplay is more straightforward and simple than other offerings in the genre such as '' P.T.O. II'', and found the game overall "ranks with the best of its strategy companions." ''

GamePro Gamepro.com is an international multiplatform video game magazine media company that covers the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software in countries such as Germany and France. The publication, GamePro, was originally la ...

''s Scary Larry also found the game more accessible than other war simulators. He complimented the ability to name the commander for each country, the numerous unit types, the sounds, and the brutal depiction of warfare. He called the game "the best war sim to date ... and one of the most fun sims ever." ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' named ''Iron Storm'' a runner-up for Strategy Game of the Year (behind ''

Dragon Force ''Dragon Force'' is a real-time strategy and tactical role-playing game from Sega created for the Sega Saturn. It was created in Japan and translated for North American release by Working Designs in 1996, a translation that was also used by Seg ...

'').

References

{{Reflist

External links

''Iron Storm''
in Sega Retro 1995 video games Alternate history video games Multiplayer and single-player video games Sega video games Sega Saturn games Sega Saturn-only games SystemSoft Alpha games Turn-based strategy video games Video games developed in Japan Working Designs